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“Did you know who I was last night?”
He shook his head. “I only knew the things you told me. Look, this place has paper-thin walls and shitty security and I don’t feel comfortable having this discussion here. What do you say we sit in my truck and talk?”
“I don’t want to talk.” She slammed the door and strode to the dresser. She shoved the jeans in her bag and zipped it shut, then rushed into the bathroom to gather her toiletries.
Jaren followed her. When she turned, she faced a wall of muscle as he blocked the doorway. “Listen to me. If I’d known who you were, last night never would have happened.”
She tipped her head up to glare at him, her tone incredulous. “Sure it wouldn’t. Everyone wants a piece of me—you’re no different!” She gave her toiletry bag a violent zip and placed a hand on his chest to shove past him.
“Goddammit, stop.” He covered her hand with his and held it there, right over his beating heart.
She couldnotcrumble. She…
She just needed time and space to regroup and figure out another plan.
“We’re going to put your things in your truck and then sit inside it and talk. Yes?”
She dodged his gaze, and he ducked his head to recapture hers.
“Yes, Trinny?”
“Fine. Now let me out of this bathroom. I’ve spent enough time with the mold and mildew.”
He rocked back a step, allowing her just enough space to squeeze past him. She grabbed her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder, but Jaren was there, taking it from her.
Her heart battered itself against her ribs as they left the room and walked to her truck. They stowed her belongings on the back seat and she climbed behind the wheel while he took shotgun.
Total silence hung in the air between them. Gripping the wheel, she bowed her head. “I never wanted to be in the spotlight,” she murmured.
“Talk to me. Please. Tell me what’s going on, who you’re running from.”
She gulped. The fact he figured out that much about her made her want to lean on him and blurt out the whole story.
“Maybe you need a reason to trust me, so I’ll tell you that I work for a security agency.”
Her head snapped toward him.
The earnest expression in his eyes as he continued made her want to trust him as well as lean on him for support.
“WEST Protection. You may have heard of us.”
She shook her head.
“I’m trained to help people like you, Trinny. People who are in trouble.”
“What can you possibly do for me?”
“Not sure yet. I need to know more about you. But I have all the skills to keep you safe while my team offers support for your situation.”
She lifted her jaw a notch. “Why should I believe you? How do I know you’re not only after my—” She cut off.
“Your money?”
With a rough cry, she dropped her forehead to the wheel and squeezed her eyes shut against the burn of tears she refused to let fall.
“My curse, more like,” she said after a long minute. She straightened and waved a hand at him. “You can go now. I don’t need your help. I made up my mind what I’m going to do.”
“Okay, what’s that?” How did he sound so calm when she was ready to launch out of her seat and circle the moon a few times, fueled by anxiety and lack of trust in mankind?
